Collaboration

Yesterday I met with Leisa. She still has plans for the small piece we did first so I didn’t get it back — but I took her the larger abstract piece that is second in the series — now that it’s quilted — and she liked it! I thought she would want to embellish it but she made an excellent point about restraint and knowing when to stop. We are both happy with it as it is — so I will add a binding and sleeve and consider it done.

I’m strangely drawn to the thought of an almost completely machine stitched binding. I’ve only done this one other time but it seems apropos to the piece — and has the plus of eliminating a large part of the hand sewing.

I have finished drafting a third piece — I picked out fabrics today — and Leisa and I talked about a fourth piece which will be a whole cloth that we will cut into strips and otherwise playfully manipulate. I have learned so much in this collaboration.

I really didn’t know how to work in groups until graduate school — and I was really forced to do it there. We each gave our best to create the best collective effort. Now it’s easy — with the right people that know how to do it too. People with control issues don’t work well in collaborations. It has to be a give and take. You don’t always get your way but you learn from the other person and respect their opinion. You don’t worry about getting your way — you work on finding a solution that works for both of you. It’s a beautiful theory — it’s a shame that governments don’t work this way.